Batman Dark Knight Returns 30th anniversary TP: printing quality

Hello guys

Just a question for you.

Do any of you have the trade paperback version (the most recent) of The Dark Knight Returns (30th anniversay edition from 2016)?
I had an edition from the early 2000s. Now I recently decided to purchase the most recent trade paperback: the 30th anniversary edition.

I expected the print quality to be better, as you would normally expect from a 30th anniversary edition. Nothing is noticeable in the first part of the book. But in the second part, especially in the section where Batman fights Joker underground, the gray speech bubbles sometimes become unreadable. The letters are no longer black, but almost illegible, 'white'. I would have liked to show a photo of it, but my smartphone is not working at the moment and I have not been able to put it in because of the known corona problems.

I just wanted to ask: are there still people here who have a copy of that edition, and who have the same problem with the readability of the text in the speech bubbles?
How could that be? I notice that my old version of the book does not have it and also the digital version online has normal, clear, dark black legible letters.
The new version is printed on 'glossy paper', the old one is not. Could it have to do with that?

I looked on the DC website to see if they have a service where books with 'issues' such as poor print quality can be reported. However, I have not found a Helpdesk that can appeal to you. A bit unfortunate, because if you have a book with a reason that the distributor cannot do anything about, you should in principle be able to contact DC directly with your question. That is why I appeal to you.
I just wanted to know if it was a 'production error' from all TP of that release or just mine. I think it is a pity, because it is such an iconic book and a 30th anniversary and that the print is so bad.

Thank you very much in advance for peeping into your copy and letting me know!

Greetings

Am i the only guy here with a 30th anniversary TP Dark Knight Returns?:eek:

My tpb is printed in 2014 (sixteenth edition) and it is perfectly readable. You probably will have to find a better copy sadly, I'm pretty sure there are various editions still available out there.
I don't think there is anything substantially different to a 30th anniversary tpb and a regular tpb edition.

My 30th anniversary TBP was printed in 2016, just looked at it - the sections that you mentioned -and it reads/ looks perfectly fine

[QUOTE=hyped78;4975673]My 30th anniversary TBP was printed in 2016, just looked at it - the sections that you mentioned -and it reads/ looks perfectly fine[/QUOTE]


Sorry to bother you again with this.

I managed to take a pic with my smartphone now.

As you can see, it's possible to read the letters, but it takes some effort at some panels.
It's the same with your copy?

Thx for letting me now!

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On mine it looks fine, took a photo of that particular page. My photo isn’t great because of the light but you get the idea; pages look fine, no issues reading the bubbles. You should ask for a replacement.

I would recommand the DC Black Label edition from 2019. That's the latest edition.

I went through my copy too, its a first printing BTW and my copy shows no signs of that print error you describe and I have lots of versions of TDKR going back to 1990.

One thing I do notice as you mentioned is that the reproduction is a tad too washed out and has that "out of focus" look to it which sucks as this is a 30th anniversary of a seminal Batman story.

[QUOTE=jb681131;4986578]I would recommand the DC Black Label edition from 2019. That's the latest edition.[/QUOTE]

Was that version ever actually released? I have never seen a copy, in person or even online (except for promo pictures).

[QUOTE=madave;4993320]Was that version ever actually released? I have never seen a copy, in person or even online (except for promo pictures).[/QUOTE]
Honestly I don't know. I know that the French one is out !

I registered only to answer this: I have that exact same edition purchased like two months ago on amazon. It's a 2016 printing (it says 1/8/2016) and I have that exact same printing error on the same page. Other pages have some blurred dialogs but the joker death scene is almost unreadable. It doesn't fix it but now you know you're not the only one lol.